Chess
Olympiad Dresden 2008
Olympiad Dresden - Round 1
So after all the anticipation the tournament proper with all it's new rules has started.
And already a number of surprises as a number of the higher seeded countries found that this was not the usual first round of an Olympiad where you play your weakest team and still get a good result.
In the open section France were held to a draw by Montenegro, Hungary drew with Iran, Latvia drew with Israel while Germany 2 beat Bulgaria, Venezuela defeated Croatia and Trinidad and Tobago beat New Zealand. All the open results.
In the ladies section the Iranians copied their men and drew with Germany 1, Argentina drew with Ukraine, the same for Greece and Mongolia, Australia and Belarus while Germany 2 defeated Sweden. All the ladies results.
As far as the African participants are concerned the results went according to seeding except for Malawi who managed to defeat their much higher rated neighbors Uganda in the Open section. Winning teams in the open section were Algeria, South Africa, Tunisia, Botswana and Malawi.
In the ladies section there were no surprises and the winning teams were South Africa, Algeria and Egypt.
Apart from the teams already mentioned as no shows for the first round a number of ladies teams that were originally registered were also not included in the draw. One would have to wait until the second round has been completed before one can establish a clear picture of exactly which African countries have pitched up. I suspect that some of the ladies teams have been left behind due to a lack of funds.
African Teams - Open
| No. | SNo | Team | Pts. | MP | Res. | : | Res. | MP | Pts. | Team | SNo |
| 14 | 49 | Egypt | 0 | 0 | ½ | : | 3½ | 0 | 0 | Romania | 14 |
| 26 | 62 | Morocco | 0 | 0 | 0 | : | 4 | 0 | 0 | Moldova | 26 |
| 38 | 74 | Malaysia | 0 | 0 | 3½ | : | ½ | 0 | 0 | Libya | 115 |
| 42 | 78 | Turkmenistan | 0 | 0 | 4 | : | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mauritius | 119 |
| 44 | 80 | Algeria | 0 | 0 | 4 | : | 0 | 0 | 0 | Liechtenstein | 123 |
| 48 | 85 | IBCA | 0 | 0 | 3 | : | 1 | 0 | 0 | Angola | 128 |
| 49 | 129 | Hongkong | 0 | 0 | ½ | : | 3½ | 0 | 0 | South Africa | 86 |
| 52 | 89 | Tunisia | 0 | 0 | 4 | : | 0 | 0 | 0 | British Virgin Islands | 132 |
| 54 | 133 | Namibia | 0 | 0 | 1 | : | 3 | 0 | 0 | ICSC | 91 |
| 60 | 140 | Mozambique | 0 | 0 | 1½ | : | 2½ | 0 | 0 | Lebanon | 97 |
| 61 | 98 | Thailand | 0 | 0 | 3 | : | 1 | 0 | 0 | Ethiopia | 141 |
| 64 | 144 | Seychelles | 0 | 0 | ½ | : | 3½ | 0 | 0 | Nicaragua | 103 |
| 65 | 104 | Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 4 | : | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rwanda | 145 |
| 66 | 146 | Kenya | 0 | 0 | 0 | : | 4 | 0 | 0 | Jamaica | 105 |
| 69 | 108 | Panama | 0 | 0 | 4 | : | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gabon | 149 |
| 70 | 150 | Ghana | 0 | 0 | 0 | : | 4 | 0 | 0 | Botswana | 110 |
| 71 | 111 | Malta | 0 | 0 | 3½ | : | ½ | 0 | 0 | Madagascar | 151 |
| 72 | 152 | Malawi | 0 | 0 | 2½ | : | 1½ | 0 | 0 | Uganda | 112 |
African Teams - Ladies
| No. | SNo | Team | Pts. | MP | Res. | : | Res. | MP | Pts. | Team | SNo |
| 42 | 70 | Albania | 0 | 0 | 4 | : | 0 | 0 | 0 | Botswana | 100 |
| 43 | 101 | Angola | 0 | 0 | 0 | : | 4 | 0 | 0 | Scotland | 71 |
| 45 | 103 | Tunisia | 0 | 0 | 0 | : | 4 | 0 | 0 | South Africa | 73 |
| 46 | 74 | Algeria | 0 | 0 | 4 | : | 0 | 0 | 0 | South Korea | 104 |
| 51 | 109 | Kenya | 0 | 0 | 0 | : | 4 | 0 | 0 | Puerto Rico | 79 |
| 54 | 82 | Egypt | 0 | 0 | 4 | : | 0 | 0 | 0 | Seychelles | 113 |
